Giving Ourselves Fully to God

None of Self and All of Thee

1. Oh, the bitter pain and sorrow
   That a time could ever be,
   When I proudly said to Jesus,
   “All of self, and none of Thee.”
   All of self, and none of Thee,
   All of self, and none of Thee,
   When I proudly said to Jesus,
   “All of self, and none of Thee.”
2. Yet He found me; I beheld Him
   Bleeding on th’ accursed tree,
   And my wistful heart said faintly,
   “Some of self, and some of Thee.”
   Some of self, and some of Thee,
   Some of self, and some of Thee,
   And my wistful heart said faintly,
   “Some of self, and some of Thee.”
3. Day by day His tender mercy,
   Healing, helping, full and free,
   Brought me lower while I whispered,
   “Less of self, and more of Thee.”
   Less of self, and more of Thee,
   Less of self, and more or Thee,
   Brought me lower while I whispered,
   “Less of self, and more of Thee.”
4. Higher than the highest heaven,
   Deeper than the deepest sea,
   Lord, Thy love at last has conquered:
   “None of self, and all of Thee.”
   None of self, and all of Thee,
   None of self, and all of Thee,
   Lord, Thy love at last has conquered:
   “None of self, and all of Thee.”

All of us can find our current state described by one of these stanzas.  Perhaps we are in the first line, we're denying God, and living solely to please ourselves.  Maybe we've started to kind of believe in God and have made a few small changes to our lives...but aren't ready to give up those things we really enjoy.  Or the case may be that we've been studying His word for a while now and really see the need to repent, but haven't had the courage to do so.  Hopefully, we're in the last stanza.  We've given our lives to God, are studying His word daily so that we may continually grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, (2 Peter 3:18) and have determined to live our lives in such a way that others may come to know Him.

If you find yourself to be somewhere in the first three stanzas, I pray that you read and consider the following words.  Christ tells us exactly what we must do if we want to follow Him.  “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23)  This is not something we do every-now-and-then, when it's easy and doesn't cause us to suffer or be inconvenienced.  Putting Christ first means butting ourselves last...EVERY SINGLE DAY!

We must no longer seek to please ourselves, or other men, but to please our Lord and Master. (1 Thessalonians 4:1)  We no longer desire our will, but the will of our Father who is in Heaven. Christ is our perfect example in that He, knowing the pain and separation He would have to endure, suffered the cross, that the will of His Father would be done.  (Matthew 26:42, Hebrews 12:1-3)  If we fully devote ourselves to Christ, seek His will above our own, and strive every day to please Him to the best of our ability we will see the blessings shower down!  (Matthew 5:3-12; 6:25, 26; Romans 8:28)

Let us all strive to live our lives in such a way that we can truly sing "None of self, and all of Thee."